


The Circle Game

by setissma



Series: Polaris (Triad Version) [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 08:42:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9064594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setissma/pseuds/setissma
Summary: Adolescent drama is the best part of parenting, unless it's adolescent drama with daemons, which is even better.





	

“Mum, Da, _mother_ ,” Leona said, banging on the portrait frame. “Did you change the passcode again? You promised you’d stop doing that!”

“It’s _locked_ , Leona,” Harry said, a little irritably. They’d been trying to take a nap since he was still beyond jet-lagged, but it was sort of the principle of the thing. Mostly the principle of having four children who, apparently, still refused to believe in locked doors.

“This is all your fault,” he said, under his breath, as Pansy woke up. “’Open doors are good for childhood development,’ you said. Now they all just _come ‘round_ constantly.”

“Well, three of them live here,” Pansy said, dryly. “And they _are_ our children. But I can start making sex noises if you’d like.”

“Which deters exactly Gemma, the one who does not live here, and only if Alcyone’s not with her,” Harry said, with a sigh. “Something for which I can also blame your sex positive parenting.”

“I can hear you, you’re not having sex,” Leona said. “And unlock the door, I need mum! It’s practically an emergency.”

“Oh good,” Harry said, pulling his jumper back on. “ _Practically_. I’m not sure whether that means someone’s nearly dead or someone’s invented a new hairstyle.”

“Da, don’t be ridiculous,” Leona said. “Seriously, dinner’s in an hour, and _I need mum_.”

“Good _god_ ,” Kit muttered. “Why is everything always an emergency with teenagers? And why did we all decide to have four children?”

“ _Mother_ ,” Leona said. “Open the bloody door!”

“Language!” Thaxia said, with a sigh. “I suppose I ought to. Rhys, did you pick something? Is that it?”

“No,” Rhys said. “I’m getting kind of sticky on things, though. That’s a good sign, right?”

“Rhys, this is hardly the time,” Leona said. “Would one of you just –“

“Darling daughter,” Harry said, pulling the door open. “Sometimes your beloved parents need a break from you lot. More to the point, why aren’t you off bothering dad?”

“You had a break, you were in Malaysia. He’s teaching,” she said. “And anyway, the whole castle’s going to know in fifteen minutes and I need mum to save Sirius from Uncle Bill.”

“Oh god,” Pansy said, with a sigh. “What’s he done this time?”

“Sirius asked Remy to the _ball_ ,” Leona announced. 

“Um,” Harry said, pausing. “I’m sorry, did I miss something? Because that’s been the plan for months. As in, that has been knowledge for months. As in, they decided last _summer_. Did someone temporarily call it off while I was gone or something?”

“No, I mean Sirius _asked_ her,” Leona said.

“I – what?” Harry said. “I know! We all know. Everyone was present at Hermione and Ron’s house when they decided they’d go together.”

“Da,” Leona said, patiently. “Sirius _asked_ Remy to the _ball_. As his date! To the ball!”

“Oh _damn_ ,” Pansy said, with a sigh.

“You know, I’d do better if Sorcha were here and she was speaking parseltongue,” Harry said, with a sigh. “Could someone explain this in English?”

“I dunno, mum, Da’s apparently got selective hearing or brain damage or something,” Leona said, doubtfully. “Maybe he has a tropical parasite.”

“Leona!” said Thaxia.

“I actually don’t get it either, to be honest,” Rhys said. “But it’s very dramatic, apparently.”

“They’d agreed to go as friends, I think Leona’s implying Sirius asked Remy in a, er, romantic capacity,” Pansy said.

“Yes! And now they’re not going as friends, he asked her and she’s his _date_!”

“Why did I not think to head this off at the pass?” Pansy said. “She’s quite attractive. He’s… Sirius.”

“But they’re friends,” Harry said. “I mean, that’s perfectly possible, look at me and Hermione.”

“Oh, no,” Pansy said. “Look at _Ron_ and Hermione. And Teddy and Victorie. And – oh, _damn_. Leona, who’s Remy told?”

“Just me,” Leona said. “And nothing’s _happened_. I mean, nothing – you know. Nothing like that, sex positive parents who aren’t allowed to be irritated.”

“She’s fourteen, I should bloody well hope not!” Harry said. 

“Okay, one, mum’s going to give you her lecture on how age is not an appropriate criterion for deciding when you’re ready to have sex, or at least she’d better or it’s unfair, and two, they didn’t have any, there hasn’t even been any snogging, so it’s pointless, and three, he was very nice, he brought her a bouquet of roses, you know, dad’s everbloom ones, and they’re _orange_ , that’s her _favorite_. You know, the orange and red ones that she likes.”

“Hold on, did he give her the ones that are sort of yellow then that pinky orange with the red edges?” Harry said. “Are those her _actual_ favorite?”

“I think she likes regular orange, but the red tips are nicer,” Leona said. 

“Oh _bugger_ ,” Harry said. “Pansy, I’m going to kill Draco.”

“What?” she said. “Oh, right, there’s no way he got a cut of those without him knowing. But couldn’t he have just said they were for a nice gesture?”

“Not that color, they’re not,” Harry said. “Pansy. Gather your pureblooded wits about you and think about roses.”

“ _Damn_ ,” Pansy said, after a pause. “Now I have to kill both of them. That’s literally the worst ones he could possibly send! It could mean any one of five conflicting things, all of which are a travesty.”

“Er,” Leona said. “Or he just wanted to give her flowers?”

“It’s _Sirius_ ,” Thaxia said.

“Okay, point, not that I get what the point is,” Leona said. “Why is no one excited? It’s Remy and Sirius! She’s great! He’s great like the half of the time he’s not doing really stupid brother stuff! It’s romantic.”

“Right,” Harry said. “So I guess I’ve got to owl Teddy, you’ve got to corner Bill and tell him before he finds out from a third year, then do you want the spouse or the kid?”

“On the one hand, he’s a Gryffindor, which generally means that when he does stupid things, you have to yell at him,” Pansy said. “On the other hand, he’s a Black, which means that when he does stupid things, Draco’s got to yell at him, only Draco hasn’t yelled at him, which leaves _me_.”

“They’re pretending I’m not here, aren’t they?” said Leona, with a sigh.

“I think they’re preoccupied,” Thaxia agreed, hopping up to her shoulders. “I like the brown hair though.”

“I know, I’ve nearly got everyone convinced we were all hybrid embryos,” she agreed. “Sirius is helping.”

“You _what_?” Pansy said.

“If you’re going to ignore me, ignore me, otherwise, you can’t demand things,” Leona said, reasonably.

“Leona Penelope Malf-“ Harry started, then sighed. “Leona, would you find your brother, tell him to come see me, then go find Remy and keep her in one place. And no talking about the ball thing with anyone.”

“Ugh, you were supposed to be _excited_ ,” Leona said, with a sigh. “I’m going to go find Alcyone, _she_ can find Sirius.”

“Oh, there’s a thought,” Pansy said. “Let’s have her talk to him.”

“No,” Harry said. “She’s going to side with him and Draco, she’s probably been plotting this for a decad –“ He paused. “What do we think the odds are Sirius actually memorized the rose meanings?”

“ _Damn_ it,” Pansy said. “And she’s got all the greenhouse passcodes and the roses like Sirius especially.”

“You wanted to hire her,” Harry said.

“Oh, everyone wanted to hire her, we needed someone to lighten my teaching load and to help out with Bill’s, and she’s bloody brilliant. There’s no putting that on me, the Hat came up with it,” Pansy said.

“Oh, well, yes, Alcyone is the epitome of all that is good and perfect in the world,” Leona said to Thaxia. “I’m just walking definition of hexing the messenger. And a _teenager_.”

“Being fourteen is very hard, I agree,” Kit said. “No one loves you, no one loves your brother, and you probably ought to both fling yourselves off Astronomy Tower, none of us will notice.”

“ _Hey_ ,” Rhys said, taking lion shape and glaring. “That was mean.”

“Actually, that was,” Pansy said, giving him a look. “Sorcha and Thaxia have daemon sarcasm covered nicely, thank you.”

“I’m sorry,” Leona said. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.” She looked a bit crestfallen. “I thought everyone would be happy.”

“Oh –“ Harry took a deep breath. “Pansy, pull Draco from his class and you two talk to Sirius and find out what this is all about, I’ll talk to Leona and find Alcyone, all right?” He glanced at Kit, who tended to respond to any sort of family issue these days with increasing irritability, which Harry figured was probably a sign of Pansy’s stress over having two Gryffindor teenagers and worrying over Gemma and his travel schedule. “Then maybe we can all play Magical or Snap or something after dinner, what do you think?”

“Okay,” Leona said. “Am I allowed to invite Remy too? It’s not my fault Sirius mucked something up. And she always comes.”

“Of course you can invite Remy,” Harry said. “Pansy, love, find Draco, then Sirius, all right? Leona, do you know where he’s at?”

“Going to dinner? Like a normal person?” she said. “If you didn’t want me here then you ought to have told me to go, I’m not telling on Sirius just because you want to know things now.”

“Kitten, we will always want you here,” Pansy said, firmly, pulling her in for a hug and kissing her forehead. “And you know we love you exactly the same amount as Alcyone, because we are a family and we all love one another the same. All right?”

Leona sighed. “Sometimes I feel like you might love Sirius _less_ ,” she said.

Pansy laughed softly, putting her chin on top of Leona’s head. “We do not and you know it,” she said. “You are all loved equally, although sometimes I love Sirius slightly more than usual when he pulls ridiculously Gryffindor stunts because he reminds me of when your da was younger. That’s why your da or dad has to yell at him for me. But that’s a secret.”

“You’re sure?” Leona said.

“Absolutely positive, and I’ll be better about making sure he knows it,” Pansy said. “And it could be exciting. I just want to talk to Sirius first, all right?”

“I was there, he was _nice_ ,” Leona said. “You and dad and da can’t gang up on him for liking Remy.”

“There will be no ganging up on anyone,” Pansy said, gently. “And I’m sure Tierney will clear up anything that needs explaining.”

Harry sighed. “Love, I think this might actually be in my wheelhouse,” he said. “And maybe we all ought to stop panicking over it.” He leaned to hug Leona from the other side. “Sometimes Kitten’s smarter than the rest of us.”

“Hah,” Pansy said. “I’m high strung and you know it. ”

“I do, actually,” Harry agreed, reaching to stroke Kit’s back. “Pansy, change of plans, why don’t you and Leona go see Remy’s flowers and then go to dinner? Draco might be there. You can fill him in. I’m going to go find Sirius.” He glanced at Rhys, who was still glaring at Kit. “Leona, I can use the map to find him, or you can just tell me.”

Leona snorted. “Da, Aly and Gemma figured out how to stay off that thing before I was _born_. And I said I wasn’t telling on Sirius.”

“Fair, sibling loyalty is valuable,” Harry said. “But if I felt like taking a walk through the greenhouses before dinner, do you have any plant suggestions?”

“The lilies look nice right now, and we all like talking to the ekwensu, their third pond is quite interesting,” Leona said, then paused. “Da, if Sirius _were_ hiding from you and mum and dad, and I’d said he was being daft because he didn’t have anything to worry about and you love him and Remy, you wouldn’t be awful, would you? I don’t want to have lied.”

Harry bit back a sigh. “Just because Sirius has had a rough few months does not mean that we do not all love him very much,” he said, firmly. “And I’m going to go make sure he’s all right. And that he’s eating vegetables with his dinner, that’s what fathers do.”

“He’s already too tall, he doesn’t need any help,” Leona said. “Are you coming, mum?”

“How about I meet you in Gryffindor tower?” Pansy suggested. “Tell Remy I’d very much like to see the roses.”

“Okay,” Leona said. “Rhys, quit trying to out-cat Kit.”

“Er, I’m not _trying_ ,” he said, looking a bit self-conscious. “I might be stuck. I dunno if it’s _stuck_ stuck, though, I got stuck for four days last week as a badger.”

“Oh,” she said. “Huh. Really?”

“It’s less uncomfortable than all the others,” he said, a little defensively.

“I think that’s stuck-stuck,” Thaxia said. “You can try to change for a while longer, but you’ll keep coming back to that if you feel that way. Sorry, Kit. I don’t think you’re going to be the biggest for much longer.”

“Well, no one can argue it doesn’t fit the name and house theme,” Pansy said, laughing softly, reaching to run her fingers through Rhys’ mane affectionately. “Good lad. I like it. It suits.”

“It does,” Kit agreed, bumping his nose against Rhys’ by way of apology. “I’ll teach you how to pounce on people out of trees.”

“Okay,” Rhys said, happily. “That’ll be fun.”

“Go show Remy,” Pansy said. “I’ll be right there.”

“See you soon, don’t wait too long, I’m famished,” Leona said, and let herself out the door.

“A literal lion?” Pansy said. “Really?”

“A literal lion, apparently,” Harry said, laughing. “Don’t tell me you’re surprised. We’re never surprised.”

“That’s hardly true, Tierney was a fox for like six months before she got huge,” Pansy said.

“Fox, maned wolf, potato, yam,” Harry said, laughing.

“Kerr and Sorcha and I will continue to be sadly outnumbered in the small category,” Thaxia said, heaving a sigh.

“Kerr’s not _that_ small,” Pansy said. “At least not when he’s flying.”

“Well, he’s smaller when he’s sitting, which is how he is _most_ of the time,” Thaxia said.

“Just be glad he’s not a snow leopard, he waffled between those two for ages,” Harry informed her. “Then we’d have three big cats, apparently.”

“Yes, well, I’d sort of prefer a snow leopard while she’s doing field work,” Pansy muttered.

“I dunno, a peregrine falcon with talons in your face is a remarkable deterrent,” Harry said. “Love, I think if Sirius is hiding in the greenhouse and going to Alcyone rather than any of us, we _might_ need to dial it down a notch. By which I mean, you’ve got to let Gemma do her Auror thing in France for the winter without going to pieces over it. Dominique’s a great partner. You’ve seen them work together. And, er –“ Harry laughed softly. “Speaking of inconvenient romances, I suspect that’s going to come up at Christmas.”

“What, _Gemma_?” Pansy said, with a pause. “And Dominique? They’ve worked together for years. Since Gemma’s training, practically. I think the entire Auror department is terrified of them. Which is why they’ve sent them off to deal with hauntings in France.”

“Yes, and Gemma’s gone from calling Dominique ‘Foxy’ in a hilarious imitation of her mother’s accent to ‘foxy’ as an affectionate nickname,” Harry said, dryly. “You missed their dueling demonstration in August. They’re so in sync it’s uncanny. If they’re not already sleeping together, I hardly think sharing a tent or cabins in France is going to, I don’t know, make them _less_ likely to get together.”

“I’m with Harry,” Kit said. “Kerr and Ximenes are… friendly.”

“But –“ Pansy said. “Really? Gemma’s never said… I mean, she’s always had boyfriends. And never anything remotely serious. I know Dominique is a bit, er, more casual with women, but…”

Harry laughed. “Darling, they’re growing up. They want the real thing. And as you’ve told every single one of them six thousand times, sexuality is fluid and when the right person presents themselves, sometimes you just know. And let’s be totally honest, Victorie is all Fleur and Dominique is all Bill with plenty of veela thrown in. You try telling me that’s a combination you’d turn down if it was the person you trusted most who wasn’t family.”

“Do you think Alcyone knows?” Pansy said, with a pause.

“Yes, and she’s not going to come clean to any of us until Gemma says it herself first, even if there’s nothing going on yet,” Harry said, settling his hands on her shoulders. “Speaking of which, our son is apparently terrified that asking a girl to the Solstice Ball and giving her flowers is going to lead to us being _mad_ at him, which I think may mean an apology and some serious revision of our teenage parenting tactics is in order.”

Pansy sighed. “It’s complicated that it’s Remy,” she said.

“It’s complicated that he’s such a _boy_ ,” Thaxia muttered.

“Darling, most of us met or at least knew our spouses in school,” Harry said. “And given the number of witches and wizards, there’s a fair chance that you’re going to end up with someone you were at school with. Not to mention that the Weasleys have a bloody enormous extended family, and honestly, we’re part of it, and we have been for decades. So they’re friends. Sometimes friends turns into more. And, you know, they’re fifteen and sixteen and she’s incredibly cute and he’s, well, a miniature version of Draco with a Gryffindor rebellious streak, we _probably_ ought to have seen this one coming.”

“I feel like ninety percent of parenting is getting caught off guard,” Pansy said, with a sigh. “And I was never someone who liked surprises. I wasn’t expecting to mind so much about Genevieve being gone. Or for Sirius to – I mean, he was never calm like the girls, but good god, I feel like all I’ve done all year is give him detention and take points and yell and ground him from Hogsmeade weekends. It’s like he’s lost his mind.”

“Possibly because he has,” Kit said. “Just throwing that possibility out there.”

Harry laughed. “Or like he’s sixteen and I’ve been gone quite a bit and Aly’s here to bug him and he’s probably got stuff going on over this whole Remy situation. Just let me talk to him. I think maybe we’ve been going a little heavy on the grounding and a little light on the family time.”

“Perhaps because he’s refusing to acknowledge that I exist in public right now,” Pansy said, dryly, but she sighed. “You’re right. You’re usually right.”

“Just – figure out a way to relax over Gemma,” Harry said. “I mean it. Write her and see how she’s doing, you know she always owls back. Maybe you can owl while she’s gone. But nothing bad is going to happen to our daughter. I don’t know, think of it as an extended romantic holiday in France or something.”

“Great, now you’re tempting me to pry,” Pansy said, laughing. “Hi, Gem, have you been shagging your Auror partner? Did you perhaps want to mention it to your parents? Have safe sex and remember to communicate with her! Love you!”

“You forgot to say hi to Kerr,” Thaxia protested. “That’s a terrible letter.”

“Maybe not _that_ owl, please,” Harry said. “But she’ll tell you first after Aly, she always does, so just write her.” He kissed Pansy’s forehead. “And if I go now, I can try to catch Draco before he comes up here for dinner, so he’s not accosted by Leona and Remy, and anyway, I probably ought to give him the tragic news about Rhys.”

“It’s not tragic, it’s good,” Kit said. “Thaxia got weird small things with Sorcha and Kerr, Lethe got a wolf-y thing with Tierney, and now I’ve got another cat. It’s balanced. Mostly. As balanced as you can get putting four into three. Someone was bound to get an extra. _Thaxia_.”

“Oh, hush,” she said. “We’re smaller, we need more of us. And it’s not as if I could have talked them into it or something, you know that’s not how it works.”

“Rhys, lion, happy,” Kit said, firmly. “Go find Draco. We’re leaving to get the girls.”

“Right,” Pansy said, leaning for a kiss. “Love you. Tell Sirius I love him. And he’s probably currently grounded, I’ve lost track, so maybe we could undo that.”

“I’ll work something out,” Harry said, dryly. “Love you too. Don’t let them get too absorbed talking about dresses.”

“Oh, right,” Pansy said, then brightened a bit. “I’d forgotten that part since I’ve had to do so much planning.”

“Ooh, I’m helping,” Thaxia said.

“Alcyone has some designs or something,” Harry said. “I said I was leaving that bit to you two.” He laughed, kissing her forehead. “You do Gemma. Draco can do Leona. I’ll handle Sirius. And maybe we can get Aly up here later for some actual family time.”

“There’s something wrong with Aly?” Pansy said, with a pause. “Have I been living under a _rock_?”

“I don’t know, I was gone for two weeks and I think midterms ate everyone alive,” Harry said, mildly. “She’s gone all cold and formal. I think she misses Gemma. And she’s suddenly teaching a hell of a lot of students, and she doesn’t want to ask you for help because you’re her mother, and so we ought to do what we _always_ do which is spend time together as a family. And it’ll stop her from being an idiot with Sirius.”

“Some days I feel like our family is bloody complicated,” Pansy muttered.

“Well, we _did_ throw three personalities into the mix and then we had two sets of children about a decade apart. And then none of them ever actually _really_ went any further than London. Possibly because we love them and have encouraged them to visit every five minutes and we’re all a mess that one of them is gone for a few _months_ ,” Harry said, laughing softly. “Pansy, it’s just – what it is. It’s us. Now _go_. And get Aly to come after dinner. And maybe let Remy gush at her over the roses, I’m reasonably certain they were her idea.”

“I really am never going to understand her and Sirius,” Pansy said. “They fight like cats and dogs but he goes to _her_?”

“They’re _siblings_ ,” Harry said, laughing. “They love each other far more than they hate each other, but they’d kill one another before they admitted it to us. And they’re both having a rough time with everything, and Gemma’s not around to translate.”

“Right, dinner,” Pansy said. “I’ll see you at? Or after? Depending on how long it takes you to talk Sirius around?”

“Yes, _go_ ,” Harry said, laughing. “Or Leona’s going to think you’ve stood her up and feel even more neglected.”

Harry took the outside stair down to the greenhouse path, and was rather relieved to see Draco still tidying up the workbenches. “Hi,” he said, letting himself in. “You’re very muddy.”

“I’m told some people find that attractive,” Draco said, laughing. “Come to hassle me for being late to dinner? I need a shower first, but then I’ll be up. Tell me you got some sleep.”

“God, I wish,” Harry said, crossing to wrap an arm around Draco’s waist, tugging him in for a kiss.

“Mm,” Draco said. “I’m happy to see you too, but after this long, the dramatic gestures aren’t really so necessary.”

“Oh, of course they are,” Harry said, laughing. “I’ve missed you. But no, I didn’t get any sleep. I don’t suppose you know anything about the everbloom roses?”

“Er, no,” Draco said. “Come to think of it, one of them was looking a bit patchy, but Alycone’s been taking them for her rooms, and it’s not as if they don’t grow back in a day or two. Why?”

“Our daughter swiped them for Sirius to give to Remy, since apparently he’s _actually_ asking her to the ball instead of just going as friends,” Harry said, laughing. “Leona had a fit over the drama of it all. Oh, and Rhys is a lion. And you were at the duel demonstration, I can’t possibly be the only one who thinks there’s something going on with Gemma and Dominique, can I?”

“That was really a lot of information for one sentence,” Lethe said, mildly, coming out from around the table to lean against Harry’s legs.

“It was concise,” Thaxia said. “You like concise.”

“Not _that_ concise,” Draco said. “Sirius is asking Remy to the ball?”

“Asked, I’m afraid,” Harry said. “I think it’ll be all right, but he’s off hiding somewhere in here, so I’m going to go talk to him, and _no_ , you may not come with, he needs the Gryffindor parent. You know how he and Pansy have been butting heads.”

“I’m not really Pansy,” Draco said, dryly. 

“No, but you’re not Harry,” Lethe said. “Harry’s right, back off until he’s ready. You two are too alike by half.”

“Right, well, I’m out on that one,” Draco said. “Rhys is a lion?”

“Yeah, Kit’s pleased,” Harry said. “I’m thinking we probably shouldn’t have named her Leona and let her get sorted into Gryffindor. I could’ve snatched the Hat away at the last minute.”

“Well, Sorcha’s a snake,” Draco said, laughing. “I suppose it balances. Sort of. We might have to expand the living room _again_.”

“That went better than I’d thought,” Harry said, laughing. “No sulking?”

“I’m too old for sulking, I just want a shower and dinner, and it’s not as if I didn’t know it was going to be something large and stubborn and Gryffindor-y,” Draco said. “And what about Gemma, since apparently _all_ of them are having problems?”

“Harry and Kit think she’s shagging Dominique or they’re at least thinking about it,” Thaxia said. “But she hasn’t said anything and Aly’s not talking. Also, Aly might be having problems too.”

“One kid at a time,” Draco said, laughing. “No, she hasn’t said anything. On the other hand, Dominique’s crush is about as obvious as it gets, and Gemma’s been –“ He waved a hand. “I don’t know. I don’t think anything’s going on _yet_ , but she’s been dropping some hints. I think she’s trying to test the waters on the whole lesbian thing.” He paused. “I’d tell her it’s ridiculous and that given that she has _two fathers_ and that we’re not exactly what you’d call traditional, but you know Gemma.”

“Yeah, I know Gemma,” Harry said, fondly. “Not too fond of change, that one.”

“No,” Draco agreed. “Or standing out. Which is rather unfortunate given that she’s your heir and that she and Dominique are going to take over that entire department in six months at the rate they’re going, but she’ll be fine.” He laughed. “And at least _one_ of them enjoys being the center of attention. Some days I think it’s entirely possible Gemma begged for Slytherin and the Hat stuck her there for lack of a better idea.”

Harry snorted. “She’s every bit as Slytherin as Alcyone and you know it,” he said. “Worse in some ways, honestly. She’s just… significantly more subtle about the whole thing.”

“Subtle and Dominique, that’ll be an interesting combination,” Draco said.

“I’m staying out of that one until called for,” Harry said, laughing. “Dominique can handle herself. Or she’ll just get so frustrated she uses her veela charm on every ghost in France and they come home early and Pansy and Aly’ll be happy.”

“Tell me whatever’s wrong with Aly is some sort of magical quick fix,” Draco said, with a sigh. “I want a shower. Also, how is it we never notice these things and then they all of a sudden crop up when you get back? Do they all wait to tell _you_ or something?”

Harry snorted. “No, it’s just that being away from all of it makes it a bit easier to see,” he said. “Aly’s just new and worried about disappointing Pansy and probably you and _maybe_ me if she’s really being a world class idiot, and I think she’s lonely with no London and no Gemma. And I don’t think Sirius’ career in acting like a complete moron coinciding with Genevieve leaving for France is entirely coincidental.”

“No, probably not,” Draco said.

“I’ll talk to him,” Harry said. “I think _everyone_ will feel better if we drop all the respective charades that we’re just their boss and teachers and start acting like their parents. At least behind closed doors, where they will be hauled if necessary.”

“Damn, now Rhys is too big to scruff,” Thaxia muttered. “But I can still get Sorcha.”

“Yes, she loves that,” Lethe said, laughing. “It’s very dignified.”

“Too bad, Harry’s her da,” Thaxia said.

“Or we could just ask and she might show up because she needs it,” Harry said, dryly. “Let’s try that one before you haul poor Sorcha around, all right?”

“Agreed,” Draco said, laughing. “Family night tonight?”

“Already suggested,” Harry said, laughing. “I sort of figured we’d do our usual and cuddle them into good behavior.”

“Pretty much,” Draco said, heaving a sigh. “Larger living room. I’ll talk to Aly, all right?”

“I will too,” Harry said. He laughed. “I’ll totally muck it up, but thank god she’s like Pansy, she loves my ineptitude.”

“She’s a Malfoy, we just love you,” Draco said, laughing, and snagged him for a kiss. “Said ineptitude fascinates us and delights us and makes us feel loved because it’s so strange.”

“It had better not be strange to Alcyone, she’s been loved by me since she was an embryo,” Harry protested, laughing. “And I hardly think it’s the same thing.”

“You know Slytherins,” Draco said, reasonably. “We’re terrible at public displays of affection. Well, er, except Dominique, but I think that’s the veela thing.”

“Yes, we all remember her tenure at Hogwarts, and I’m now very glad to forget it entirely,” Harry murmured, kissing him one more time. “If I don’t get back there, he’s going to think no one’s going to come looking, and then he’ll _really_ feel like rubbish. Save us some dinner, all right?”

“Always,” Draco said. “Love you. Tell him I love him too, all right?”

“I always do,” Harry said, laughing. Draco waved him off, and Harry headed through a few of the Greenhouses.

“Go find Tierney, and don’t be a jerk,” Harry told Thaxia.

“I’m _never_ a jerk to the babies,” Thaxia muttered, but she bounded ahead, and Harry heard low voices through the cracked set of doors.

“Damn it, I told Leona not to tell,” Sirius said, where Harry could just see his hair over the rock border of the lily pond.

“Like she ever listens,” Tierney said. “She wasn’t a reliable confidant.”

“ _Hush_ , your ears might be dirty from digging,” Thaxia said. “Bend down more, I can’t reach.”

“Actually, she kept her mouth shut,” Harry said, dryly. “Sadly, you have a father who knows your hiding spots.” He went over, sliding down to sit next to Sirius, bumping his knee with his own. “I only got help from that one, and you can hardly blame her for being able to find Tierney.”

“I suppose not,” Sirius said, with a sigh. “Have you come to yell? Or just – extend my grounding for the eightieth time? I think it might be through next summer by now, mum’s probably got a calendar.”

“Actually, no,” Harry said, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “I’ve come to talk. Because, astonishingly enough, you’re my kid and I love you. And it seems like _maybe_ you’ve got a few things going on you’d like to talk about. Just hazarding a guess at that last one, though, I’ll still hang around even if you don’t want to tell me anything.”

“See,” Tierney said. “Leona and I told you it’d be easier once da was back.”

“Actually, this is a parental consensus trip, your mum and dad know I’m here,” Harry said, ruffling his hair. “We’re all a bit worried. And as tragic as it is, parents are humans who sometimes bugger things up. We’ve probably been a bit hard on you and we’re sorry.”

“This year sucks,” Sirius said, leaning against his shoulder. “I miss Gem and you’ve been gone and mum’s _always_ furious and I _know_ I got an OWL in Charms last year and mum wants me to keep going with it, but I’m pretty sure I mucked up the midterm something awful, it was something none of us had studied.”

“And, apparently, Remy,” Harry said, gently.

“Yeah,” Sirius said, ducking his head. “Remy too.”

“Well,” Harry said, tugging him in a bit closer. “We all miss Gemma. But I’m home now, so you don’t need to miss me too. And Bill –“ He paused. “Let me try to talk around the spell that keeps me from giving you any sort of unfair advantage. Sometimes professors bugger up and give an exam that’s not very fair, and they usually realize it when they’re grading. I will state that your Uncle Bill isn’t _historically_ known for doing that, but I’ve done it before. Your mum and dad have too. So hypothetically -” Harry paused, making a face. “Okay, I can’t say that. When a professor does that, they’ll usually tell you after they’ve graded everyone’s, and we all do different things. Sometimes there’s a new exam, or sometimes we’ll take an average of your marks so far for the semester and use that as your grade, and sometimes we’ll give you something different like an essay to do instead. And no one’s gotten _any_ midterm marks back yet for advanced classes, have they? So I doubt anyone’s finished grading, I’m certainly not.”

“Just mum’s practical, and that’s always back by next class,” Sirius said. “You think maybe Uncle Bill gave an exam that was too hard? I hadn’t even _seen_ some of those spells.”

“Can’t say, but if it happened, he’ll fix it, and we usually talk over that to do with our colleagues and your mum, so the rest of us might know if something like that had happened and, say, my midterm had been too hard,” Harry said. “And even if you _did_ do awfully, it’s all right. As your da _and_ as your Head of House. You’re taking a lot of courses. If Charms isn’t working and you don’t like it, we can talk about you dropping it.” Harry laughed. “Just no dropping Herbology or Potions. You like plants too much.”

“No, I _know_ I aced both those,” Sirius said, firmly. “Dad said my draught looked good, and you know how he is about saying anything about any of our stuff when you’re gone in case someone thinks he’s playing favorites. And I know you haven’t gotten to the essays, but of _course_ I know the whole history of Spirits of Hartshorn, you ought to have given us something harder. And I knew all the plant identification, that part was easy, and then the practical was repotting tentaculas, and mine’s still in its pot, I’ve been visiting it to take it flies.” He ducked his head again. “Dad said he’d consider how happy they were after we moved them, it’s not cheating.”

“Definitely not,” Harry said, laughing. “And your dad’s the last person on earth who’d ever mind if you liked a plant. Just don’t try to smuggle it into Gryffindor tower, all right? You can have it in your room at home if you’d really like.”

“Nah, it seems all right in the greenhouse, it’s just smaller than some of the others, I’m helping it catch up,” Sirius said.

“Good lad,” Harry said. “I’ve got some grasshoppers if you’d like to see if it likes those until it gets onto mice.” 

“Yeah, I would,” Sirius said. “Thanks.”

“Your mum’s not mad at you, you know,” Harry said, gently. “She’s just all in pieces over Gemma too, and having Aly back here, and worrying about you and Leona and the ball and – you know, _being your mum_. Which doesn’t mean it’s fair of her to take that out on you, but she’s only trying to make sure you grow up with _some_ manners.”

“Yeah, well, she could yell less,” Sirius muttered.

“Kit keeps threatening to eat me,” Tierney observed. “That’s usually you, Thaxia.”

“You’re too big, it’d have to be in bites, and anyway, blech, maned wolf taste,” Thaxia said. “How _did_ you get all this dirt in your fur?”

“Er, digging to help the ekwensu,” Tierney said, looking slightly guilty. “They said they needed a bigger storage larder, but Sirius couldn’t use magic or it’d be corrupted or something.”

“Well, hop in the bath or something before you come to family night,” Thaxia scolded, gently. “You’re too pretty to have your black markings get all dull.”

“Oh good, family night,” Sirius said, with a sigh.

“Yes, good, family night,” Harry said, gently. “Your mum wants to say sorry and unground you. And I want to see you. And so does your dad. And your sisters. And, possibly, Remy.”

“ _Mum_ wants to apologize?” Sirius said, dubiously.

“Yes,” Harry said. “And I was sort of thinking I’d like it if you stayed in your room tonight so you can stay past curfew and spend some time with us doing something fun. Only if you want.”

“What’s your idea of fun?” Sirius said, warily.

“Feeding you to Kit?” Harry said, dryly. “I dunno, maybe Snap? Or Magical? Or just hanging out _not_ talking about grades or girls? I’ll make cider. With extra cinnamon, like you like. Because you and Alcyone are heathens who have no taste in beverages.”

“Oh, all right,” Sirius said, but he sounded faintly pleased. “I might, um.” He ducked his head again. “Would it be bad if I wanted to talk to you about – girl stuff? I know I’m getting kind of old for that.”

Harry laughed. “Sirius, you’re just getting started on coming to me for that,” he said, gently. “Or whomever you like, I suppose. But trust me, the advice on girl stuff _starts_ at sixteen. Or boy stuff, I suppose. Just ask Bill and Fleur how many times I had to go ask them how to get your mum to not be completely hacked off at me.”

“Huh,” Sirius said. “Really?”

“Four hundred million, approximately,” Thaxia said. She’d settled in between Tierney’s paws. “But only three last year, that was sort of a record.”

“Well, it has been about thirty years, I’ve picked up some things along the way,” Harry said, laughing. “But I was rubbish at it for a long time. Trust me. And I was not nearly as good with girls as you are.”

“Oh, shut it, mum’s always going on about how nice you look in green,” Sirius said, rolling his eyes. “And how much she loves you and dad and other gross mum stuff.”

“Yes, it’s awful and I really hate being loved by my spouse,” Harry agreed, laughing. “Do you want to talk about Remy now or later tonight?”

“Now,” Tierney said. “We should talk about her _now_.”

“Um, is she coming with Leona?” Sirius said. “If she’s coming with Leona, now, if you’ve got time.”

“I’ve always got time unless I’m literally going to teach a class, and even then, I’ve still usually got time if you need me,” Harry said, gently. “You know that.”

“I know,” Sirius said, heaving a sigh. “It was all – we’re friends, you know, and she and her mum and Aunt Fleur went to see Gabrielle in France over the summer holidays, you know, and we owled just like always and it was _fine_ , except then she came back and she was a girl. I mean, that’s stupid, she was always a girl, but it was different, y’know? She’s way taller than Leona now. I mean, she’s still short, but _less_ short. And… other stuff.”

Harry tried not to laugh. “Well, speaking from experience with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, it’s not always such a bad thing to notice your friend’s turned into a girl before she starts wanting you to notice it.”

“I know, that’s the weird part, it’s like – I was different too or something,” Sirius said. “I mean, I’m not, I didn’t even have to get new trousers from last spring and mum said that was some sort of miracle, but she doesn’t act the same. Like we used to always, um, sneak out and go to the greenhouses to see the night blooming plants, or go play Quidditch with Leona or just the two of us even though she’s kind of rubbish at Seeker, but now she’s all weird about going. _And_ every time I offer to do something like usual, like play chess in the common room like we _always_ do, she gets all weird, she said people might notice. Except that’s daft, isn’t it? We’ve been doing it since she was a first year.”

“Well, I’m not saying boys and girls can’t just be friends, obviously,” Harry said. “But sometimes when you get to Remy’s age, I think it can start to feel odd if one of your best friends is a boy. And I think it’s probably a little harder because…” Harry considered. “I know Leona’s her best friend, but Kitten’s year younger, I don’t think she’s as mature yet. So I don’t think she gets why Remy might feel odd about it.”

“ _I_ don’t get it,” Sirius said, with a sigh. “But she started getting all weird about the ball thing, like she kept saying I should take an actual date since I was a sixth year and sixth years never ask fourth years, except I’d already said I wanted her to go with me and it’d be kind of rubbish of me to go back on my word, you know?”

“Well, sort of, things change sometimes,” Harry said, gently. “Why did you ask her?”

“I dunno exactly, honestly,” Sirius said. “I mean – I thought about it and there are some really nice girls in my year, I mean, Annabeth’s really good at Quidditch and she likes the same things I like, mostly, except I kept thinking about it and I didn’t _want_ to go to the ball with Annabeth, I wanted to go with Remy. So I talked to Aly because, you know, Aly’s a girl, and she said if I wanted Remy to be my date I should probably ask her as my date instead of just as my friend so no one was confused. And she said if I asked her as my date I ought to do it properly, so I did, and it was – nice, actually, she was really happy, and I was happy, and I think it’ll be nice to go to the ball with her.”

“Okay,” Harry said. “So you like the idea of Remy being your date to the ball?”

“Yeah,” Sirius said. “Only, it’s just…” 

“Just?” Harry prompted, gently.

“I mean, it’s weird,” Sirius said. “It’s like – she’s still Remy, I don’t want her to stop being my friend just because I asked her to the ball, I like sneaking around the greenhouses and stuff, all the faeries and stuff always come out for her, and I _like_ playing chess in the common room, and it feels kind of like – there are two Remy’s or something. Like, Remy from before and girl Remy. _And_ I’ve only asked her to the ball, and I sort of don’t know if – I mean, does that mean we’re going to the ball, or does that mean we’re going to go to Hogsmeade together too, or… I dunno at _all_.”

“Me either,” Tierney said. “And Pasha’s been…” She sighed, laying her head on her paws. “Now he wants to stay on Remy sometimes, he won’t come see me as much.”

“Well,” Thaxia said. “Maybe he wants to be with you, but he’s not sure yet. I felt like that about Kit and Lethe for a while. And ferrets are sort of like fishers.”

“You know, I can’t tell you how to feel about Remy,” Harry said, gently. “But at the risk of stating the stupidly obvious, the word ‘friend’ is in ‘girlfriend’ for a reason. I don’t think Remy wants to stop doing all the things you’ve always liked to do together. Maybe she’s just… interested in doing them in a different context. And I get that it can be odd to suddenly feel differently about someone you’ve known for a really long time. It sounds like maybe you’re both feeling that.”

“Maybe,” Sirius said, a little doubtfully. “I mean – I know girls ask me to Hogsmeade a lot and all that, but Remy’s different. I mean, I like her better. And she knows me better. I don’t want to mess it up by… I dunno. Doing all the stuff that she and Leona always get pissed off at me over.”

“You know, you’re pretty brilliant, actually,” Harry said, laughing. “I mean, I’m obviously biased, but you’re smart and funny and nice to everyone and good at Quidditch. In my experience, girls tend to like that sort of thing.” He nudged Sirius’ shoulder with a smile. “And judging from her reaction to the flowers, I think Remy might like that sort of thing a lot.”

“D’you think?” Sirius said. “She seemed like maybe she thought they were cool. Aly’s good at advice sometimes.”

“I think it _might_ be a good idea for you two to talk about whether you want to be more than each other’s date to the ball,” Harry said, gently. “But if you do decide you want to be boyfriend and girlfriend, remember Leona’s feelings too, all right? She loves you, I think she’d feel a bit left out if you didn’t make any time for her at all.”

“Well, no, that’d be stupid, Remy and Leona _always_ hang out,” Sirius said. “I mean – having a boyfriend doesn’t mean she has to stop having friends or something, does it? You and mum and dad have loads of them.”

“No,” Harry said, laughing. “It most assuredly does not. And she _should_ keep having friends. And so should you.”

“It’s weird,” Sirius said, making a face. “I didn’t think I wanted to date anybody. But it’s different if it’s Remy. Then I think I do. I mean, uh.” He reached a hand up to rub the back of his neck. “It’s just like we do the same stuff except as boyfriend and girlfriend and there’s some… snogging and going to Hogsmeade sometimes and all that. I mean, if she wants to. You don’t have to give me lecture on how a girl always gets to decide what she wants to do and change her mind if she wants again. I would date Remy with no snogging if she wasn’t ready for snogging. I promise.”

Harry snorted. “Okay, one, you’re teenagers, I realize that your rebellious streak has largely involved explosions and not girls, but generally, teenagers who are dating do like to kiss one another, yes. But you know the rules about all that. And Remy’s only fourteen, so just… if you decide you want to date, I think kissing is fine if you both want to. More than that is… you know. Subject to the rules.”

“Yeah, no,” Sirius said, firmly. “I know I have to talk to you or dad or mum if I’m thinking about sex, but I’m _not_ thinking about it. I mean – not because Remy’s not great and everything, and maybe that’s weird, I know some people in my year have and things, but…” He made a face. “Can you just tell me if it’s weird that I don’t think I want to yet even with Remy and then can we not talk about that part any more unless something’s wrong with me?”

Harry laughed. “No, there’s nothing wrong with you,” he said. “It might be different if you do start dating, your feelings can change, but just remember that Remy’s younger than you. And that the rules apply to her too.”

“Um, don’t _her_ parents get to decide that?” Sirius said. “Not – uh –“ He sighed. “That wasn’t me being smart, I’m just asking.”

“He really wasn’t,” Tierney said.

“No, it’s all right, I know what Remy’s rules are because her mum and dad asked us for some advice before she started school,” Harry said. “If it were nearly any other girl, then yes, it would absolutely be up to her parents to decide what’s okay in their family. I just happen to know what’s okay with the Lupins because, er, they borrowed our rules.”

“Well, at least it’s the same, then,” Sirius said.

“I think so, yeah,” Harry said. “Kissing’s okay _if_ you’re both okay with it. But -“ He paused. “Okay, there might have to be some modifications to the rules since it’s Remy. She can be in your room with the door shut if you two are messing with the glow lizards or potions or any of the other four million reasons you’ve been in your room with the door shut and no one’s cared, but no being in your room with the door shut and kissing.”

“That’s fair,” Sirius agreed. “If she even wants to go out with me. I’m not sure yet.”

Harry laughed. “I’m _fairly_ certain based on how excited Leona is, she might. But talk with her, all right? And –“ He considered. “It’s a little tricky with you two, all right? I trust you. And I trust Remy, she’s a good kid. So if you’re being idiots who sneak out to the greenhouses and I catch you, I don’t want to have to treat that any differently than before, I’d take the same amount of points as if I caught Remy and Leona. Okay? But if you want that trust, then you can’t sneak off to the greenhouses in the middle of the night for snogging.”

“No, I promise,” Sirius said. “There’s more interesting stuff to do here than _that_.”

Thaxia snorted. “You sound like your da and me before we figured out we only liked being with people we cared about a lot,” she said.

“Hey, I care about Remy,” Sirius protested. “I’m not going to be an awful boyfriend or something. I’ll ask Aly and Gemma for help on how to be nice. Or mum, even.”

“ _Thaxia_ ,” Harry said, with a sigh. “She means snogging and sex and that sort of thing.” He kissed his forehead. “I think it’s good that you want to be so kind to Remy. And I think those are good people to talk to, and you know you can talk to your dad and me too. And none of us are expecting you not to be normal teenagers and want to kiss and hug and cuddle, and all that’s just fine, okay? And it’s not that stuff that’s _more_ than that isn’t fine, it’s that we talk first.”

“I know, I know,” Sirius said. “If I didn’t know that by now, you’d have to get my bloody hearing checked.”

“Language,” said Thaxia.

“Language,” Harry agreed, laughing. “It’s just a reminder. And since you’ve stashed yourself in the greenhouses worrying over nothing, I sort of think you might be hungry and we ought to go get you something to eat. I mean, probably all that’s left is vegetables, but you’ll make do.”

“Ugh, da,” Sirius said. “You’re the _worst_. I bet you had mum put those aside special.”

“We should have just let them all get scurvy,” Thaxia agreed. “Come _on_ , Harry. You’re so unreasonable.”

Harry laughed again. “No, they saved dinner for us both, then family night,” he said. “Er, maybe washing off Tierney, then dinner, then family night.”

“I can just hop in the lake,” Tierney offered.

“No, then you’ll smell like _lake_ and Thaxia’ll make mum do a cleaning charm on you and she’s rubbish at them so you’ll smell like a lemon for days,” Sirius said. “Plus I want a shower, I think. I mean – I am hungry, I just… can I have a little time to think about everything? It’s kind of a lot. I mean, mum not being mad and me maybe not failing Charms and Remy and stuff.” 

“Of course, you goose,” Harry said, fondly. “Just come to the tower after, okay? We’re happy to see you.”

“Yeah, thanks, da,” Sirius said, with a real smile. “Love you.”

“You too,” Harry said. “I’m always here if you need anything. Oh, and Rhys is a lion.” 

“No surprise there, _Leona’s_ a lion, and he’s been that shape half the time anyway,” Sirius said, laughing. “But he’ll be brilliant for Quidditch matches.”

Harry laughed. “I think so, yeah,” he said. “Go get ready for dinner. I’ll meet you up there.”

Sirius went ahead, and Harry laughed as most of the plants nudged at him – he pet one that usually tried to cover people in acidic goo, murmuring something at it, and it settled back happily. Harry watched him reach the castle before he headed up himself, wanting to give him the space he’d asked for, and then took the stairs to the tower, letting himself in.

“Anyone back from dinner yet?” he called up to the living room.

“Me,” Pansy said. “And Aly’s here. Draco and Remy and Leona went to the kitchens for snacks.”

“Hey, da,” Aly called down. “Mum saved you dinner.”

“Oh, roast, brilliant,” Harry said, happily, once he’d climbed the stairs. “Hi, love. How were classes today?”

“He’s looking at the roast,” Pansy said, dryly, and Harry paused and looked up at Aly, who had a bright blue streak through her hair.

“Er,” Harry said. “I thought Leona was the one who was all into switching hair colors these days.”

“It was supposed to be a _shield_ charm,” Alcyone said, putting her head in her hands. “The worst part is, she’s no idea how she did it. And I couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong – well, it turns out she _did_ the shielding charm, she just shielded my _hair_. And this is the color of her bloody magic. So I can’t even charm it back to blonde, because my hair’s shielded from spells.”

“I have a blue streak too,” Sorcha said, from where she was draped around Alcyone’s neck. “It’s a little odd.”

“So you’ve had a lovely week, then,” Harry said, coming to sit down at the table they’d eventually added for meals, where Pansy and Alcyone were still sitting. He leaned to kiss her forehead. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Mum can’t do anything, so dad’s going to go look at what he’s got in potions that might eat through a shielding charm that _won’t_ eat through my hair or Sorcha’s scales,” she said, sighing.

“I mean, at least it looks on purpose,” Harry said. “You know. Sort of cool and edgy or something.”

Alcyone finally burst out laughing. “Da, when have I _ever_ been edgy?”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Harry said. “At least it’s Friday.”

“There’s that,” she agreed. “And family night. And Sirius is almost being nice to me.”

“Yeah, how’d that go?” Pansy said. “We’ve cleared up the roses, by the way.”

Alcyone rolled her eyes. “They mean ‘friendship’ and ‘growing affection,’ mum’s just got a filthy mind,” she said. “And apparently thinks I’d give my little brother roses about _sex_ to give to his fourth year crush.”

“I’m sort of with Alcyone there, that was a bit of a stretch,” Kit said.

“You couldn’t have just gone with a nice, innocuous pink?” Pansy said. “Or even red? I mean, red’s not exactly without any hidden connotations, but they’re perfectly respectable.”

“He wanted to give her a color she _liked_ , mum, and he went to all the trouble of finding out her favorite, and I _didn’t_ send him with orange roses, which actually _are_ about sex, so you’re welcome,” she said, rolling her eyes again.

“Okay, long week, truce,” Harry said. “It’s fine. He’s having a rough time with Gemma being gone and Bill _really_ needs to get on telling them that he gave them the wrong exam, Sirius thought he’d failed, and he’s worried you hate him, and, you know, girl stuff. Which, by the way, is innocuous, he likes her and she probably likes him and I think they may spend about six months holding hands because apparently I’ve put the fear of Unspeakables into him over accidentally snogging someone without their consent.”

“You are kind of firm with that point,” Aly mused. “Which, you know, as a witch, I appreciate, but you may have traumatized Sirius.”

“You definitely traumatized Sirius,” Sorcha said.

“Yes, well, it’s fine, he just wants to _literally_ go hang out in the greenhouses with her and play chess,” Harry said, finishing a bite of meat. “And he’s being very functional about all of it and not acting like a brooding idiot, so I’m actually proud of him.”

“It’s sort of cute,” Alcyone said, laughing. “Remy goes bright red if anyone asks her about it, she’s so excited over the flowers. But I’m pretty sure she’s owled her mum, so Teddy and Victorie won’t be surprised.”

“Oh, all right,” Pansy said, laughing too. “I’ll be nice and not mortify either of them.”

“Please don’t, I’ve only just gotten him to come creeping out of hiding,” Harry said, dryly.

“It’s not as if I’ve been _abusing_ him or something, Harry,” Pansy said.

“ _Mum_ ,” Alcyone said, irritably. “First dad, then me, now da? Stop it.”

“Alcyone,” Kit said, sternly.

“Right, _enough_ ,” Harry said, firmly, looking up at Pansy. “Love, I have loved you for a very long time and will continue to do so for the rest of my life, but that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to call it like I see it when you’re stressed and leaning out instead of in. Which you’re _also_ up to, Aly, so don’t start in on her. Everyone is going to calm down, and I’m stuffing you two and Sirius on a sofa and covering you in blankets and daemons until you all feel human again.”

“Really, stop acting all Slytherin and defensive,” Thaxia scolded, going under the table and climbing up into Pansy’s lap to put her paws on her shoulders, nuzzling her face. “We love you. I’ll cuddle you until you feel better. Promise.”

“Oh, all right,” Pansy said, with a sigh. “Sorry, Aly.”

“Me too,” Alcyone said, softly.

“Dad would’ve said it too if he were here,” Harry said. “I know you lot miss Gemma. _I_ miss Gemma. But she’ll be back by Christmas, and despite what everyone thinks, she’s not actually easy going, she’s got a bloody strong personality, it just compliments yours and you two are peas in a pod.”

“I miss Kerr,” Sorcha muttered, in Parseltongue, winding up his arm. “And Aly’s panicking over if Gemma won’t want to live with her since she’s living here or won’t want to live with her at all.”

“You know, I’m playing nice, but I _really_ hate that trick,” Alcyone said, irritably. “It’s bloody weird for my _own daemon_ to speak a language I don’t. With my _da_ , no less.”

“I said I missed Kerr and you missed Gemma and I was worried about you,” Sorcha said.

“I still don’t know how you can even do that, you’re not _actually_ a snake,” Pansy mused.

“No clue,” Sorcha said. “I just can. But so could everyone else when they were snakes when they could still change.”

“Maybe from Harry through me?” said Thaxia. “I can understand it just fine.”

Harry very gently stroked Sorcha’s head with his index finger. “She actually said you’re worried about where Gemma’s going to want to live when she gets back.”

“Sorcha!” Alcyone said. “That’s private.”

“Well, you weren’t going to say, were you?” Sorcha said. “We don’t _have_ to live here to teach, we can commute, or Gemma _can_ live here and still go work in London, we have the whole floo thing set up for Ron and Hermione’s, I’m reasonably certain mum would authorize it for _Gemma_.”

“Of course I would,” Pansy said. “And Uncle Bill goes home at night, there’s no problem with it, you only have to live here full time if you’re a Head of House or Headmistress or Deputy. And no offense, darling, but I don’t think any of those are up for the taking for a very long time.”

“Sirius and Leona still use their rooms during the summer and sometimes if they want to stay here, but you and Genevieve haven’t for years, honestly,” Harry said. “Which leaves the suite you’ve got now plus a whole half of the third floor in terms of room. _Regardless_ of what Gemma wants to do, I was going to talk to you about whether you thought a bit of renovation might be in order.”

“Maybe later?” Alcyone said. “I’d like that, I’m just… really tired.”

“Right, go,” Harry said, gently, pointing at the sofa and waving a hand to pull the fire up. “Sofa. Thaxia, you stay with Pansy. Kit, you’re on Aly. I’m going beyond family night.”

“Da, I am, in fact, getting a little old for this,” Aly said.

“Cute,” Harry said. “You think you’ll _ever_ be too old to get piled on by daemons and your parents. I’m making cider.”

“Extra –“

“Extra cinnamon, yes, for you and Sirius, because you’re strange,” Harry said. “Now go, I mean it.”

“God, he’s bossy,” Pansy muttered, laughing, getting up. “Especially when he thinks he’s right.”

“It’s obnoxious,” Alcyone agreed.

“I love you too,” Harry said, dryly, summoning several blankets out of the linen chest. “Go on. And leave room for Sirius.”

“Uh oh,” Sirius said, coming up the stairs. “Why are you talking about me?”

“I said to leave room for you on the sofa, because you’ve all become snarky and weird and apparently paranoid, and I’m calling family daemon pile,” Harry said, firmly.

“Oh,” Sirius said, considering. “Okay. Cool. I call middle after I eat.”

“See?” Harry said. “I have one whole sensible child.”

“Leona still likes it,” Alcyone said, dryly. “Oh, let’s be honest, Gemma does too. Sirius, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Yeah, well, dad calls it just because he feels like it, mum calls it when she finds our baby clothes or something, but da only does it when he thinks someone needs it, so I figure, I need it, that’s why,” he said. “But I need food first.”

“I resent that, I like it,” Pansy said, laughing. “And sometimes I call it just because I love my children.”

“I like it,” Tierney said. “It’s warm.”

“It is warm,” Sorcha agreed.

“I’m taking away your vote,” Aly complained, but she was laughing too. She finally settled on the sofa, leaving a spot for Sirius next to Pansy.

“Sirius, did you just eat an entire plate of food in under thirty seconds?” Pansy said, staring at him. “Are you growing again?”

“Too nervous for lunch,” he said, between bites. The plate had refilled. “And maybe. Dunno.”

“Probably,” said Tierney, with a sigh. “I think we’re going to grow forever.”

“Or you’re going to be as tall as your dad, which would be kind of logical,” Harry said, dryly.

“He was _not_ this tall at sixteen,” Pansy said, firmly, laughing. “I’m glad the house elves held enough food back.”

“Yeah, might eat thirds,” Sirius agreed.

“Look, it’s working, it’s been three whole minutes and you two haven’t started bickering,” Harry teased, carrying mugs of cider over to Aly and Pansy.

“Well, now you’ve just jinxed it,” Pansy said. “Sirius, did your da tell you you’re not grounded anymore?”

“Sort of,” he said. “He said you’d tell me. And that you wanted to say sorry.”

“You were supposed to say that _for_ me,” Pansy said, dryly.

“Nope,” Harry said, settling in on Aly’s other side and pulling up the blankets.

“Okay, well, ordinarily I’d do this privately, but since your father’s being a prat, Sirius, I’m sorry I’ve yelled so much, and you’re not grounded any more,” Pansy said.

Tierney came over to set her head in Pansy’s lap, and Pansy stroked her fingers through her fur, bending to kiss the top of her head. “And I love you. Very much.”

“I know,” Sirius said. “Me too. Sorry I was – you know. Me.”

“Oh, please,” Pansy said. “You’re not allowed to apologize for being _you_ , then I wouldn’t have a favorite child.”

“Hey!” Aly protested, laughing. “You’re not allowed to have favorites. Da says.”

“Sirius has been her unfavorite this school year, so he can have _one_ night of being her favorite,” Harry said, laughing too. “Since the kid to parent ratio is even for once, you can be mine and your dad can take Leona, what do you say?”

“Oh, all right,” Aly said, relaxing a little as she cuddled into his side. “This had better not be going to Sirius, it has whiskey in it.”

“I just put ridiculous amounts of cinnamon in his,” Harry said. “Although I suppose I could add whiskey for entertainment value to see what happens when we add Remy to the pile.”

“Um, no, I’m staying by _mum_ ,” Sirius said, coming over to climb in next to Pansy, who pulled him in for a hug.

“We’re going to need a bigger sofa for Rhys,” Kit observed, hopping up between Alcyone and Sirius. “Or we’ll just have to use the bed like we did when you all were little.”

“I’m not sure even the bed can handle a panther, a lion, a wolf, and seven humans if Remy’s there too,” Thaxia said, dryly.

“Eh, it’s okay if we’re squashed some,” Sirius said, leaning closer to Pansy.

“Although I do not have a favorite aside from tonight, I really do love you,” Pansy said, gently. “And I’m sorry things have been so hard this year. But talk to me about it, okay?”

“Yeah, I know,” Sirius said, ducking his head. “Da said the same thing. I talked to Aly at least.”

“A minor miracle,” Aly said, laughing. “Here, have some of the better cider. You two didn’t see this.”

“Sex roses _and_ alcohol, god, what a terrible influence,” Harry teased.

“Wait, what?” Sirius said, pausing. “I – they were just roses! I already told you about all that, da!”

“Calm down, mum just got all weird over the color I picked,” Aly said. “They were perfectly normal roses aside from the fact that they last a month instead of a week.”

“I’m having a bad week, give me a break,” Pansy said, laughing. “Well. Less of one now, I suppose.”

“Hah,” Thaxia said, smugly. “I’m good for you.”

“Mmmwarm,” Sorcha said, from somewhere deep in the blankets, in the vicinity of Sirius’s lap. “Aly, if I fall asleep, d’you care?”

“No, then you can’t go telling all my secrets,” Alcyone said, but she was laughing softly.

“Sirius, did you even brush her after?” Thaxia said, climbing closer to look at Tierney’s muzzle.

“Er, sort of,” Sirius said. “I used a brushing _charm_.”

“Sirius, you’re going to cause Thaxia’s death via obsessive grooming,” Kit remarked, then licked his hair straight up. “There. Better. Now you’ll look nice for Remy.”

“ _Kit_ ,” Sirius said, laughing. “How bad is it?”

“Pretty bad,” Harry admitted. “But I’m sure she’ll still find you exactly as charming and handsome as she did a few hours ago.”

“Well, I guess we’re all doing new stuff, I like the blue,” he said, gesturing to Alcyone’s. “I mean, I wouldn’t have thought you would, but it looks nice.”

“It was a second year,” she said, wryly. “You advanced lot are lucky you have mum, she’s better at stopping renegade spells than I am.”

“Actually, I’m terrible,” Pansy said, laughing. “But I picked up some really bloody weird magic when I was pregnant with you all. Now my body just does things without me noticing.”

Aly made a face. “Great, so I have to reproduce with one of you weird handsy magic wizards to get better at that.”

“Hey, I’m good at _both_ ,” Sirius said, smugly. “Just think, you could have a kid like me.”

“Oh god, never mind,” Aly said, laughing. “I take it all back.”

“Oh, hush,” Pansy said, ruffling Sirius’ hair to make it worse. “We’re glad we have you. Though don’t get too cocky, you’re rubbish at Divination and Arithmancy.”

“Where was I going to get that from, exactly?” Sirius said. “Aunt Hermione? Even _she_ dropped that.”

“I was okay at tea leaves,” Leona said, jumping up the last of the stairs. “Well, okay, I was okay at _guessing_ at tea leaves, at least.”

“That doesn’t count,” Sirius said. “As long as you pretend like something bad’s going to happen, you get perfect marks.”

“Yeah, and?” Leona said. “I divined that if I predicted bad things, I’d do well.”

“Poor Professor Lisse, she tries,” Remy said, coming up behind her. “Well, sort of. I think she tries about as hard as Leona did at reading tea leaves.”

“Actually, inaccurate, she’s quite good,” Pansy said, laughing. “But the art is lost on most of us, so she really only seems to bother with anyone who has enough real skill to get to the upper level classes, which is fine by me since it’s one of those things where you’ve got it or you haven’t and if you haven’t, there’s no doing anything for it. Though I still have no idea why you _wanted_ to take that, Kitten.”

“Seemed like it might be interesting, wasn’t,” Leona said, with a shrug. “So I switched to Ancient Runes and it’s been much better.”

Remy snickered. “You just wanted to do the catch up work with Professor Archfield, you think he’s _dreamy_.

“Oh, shut up, you think Sirius is _dreamy_ ,” Leona said, then paused when Remy and Sirius both turned bright red. “Er. Sorry. Forgot he was in here.”

“Oh, thanks, I love you too,” Sirius muttered.

“Oh, good, daemon pile,” Draco said. “Girls, move, this food isn’t carrying itself.”

“You’re _levitating_ it,” Leona said.

“And I levitated it to the dungeons and back again, and now I want to put it down,” Draco said, sending it to the table. He tossed a vial to Alcyone. “Try that. I’ve got no clue if it’ll get the blue out, but it ought to at least take out the shielding charm so you can dye it back.”

“If you can’t get it out, I get to do one on purpose,” Leona said.

“Good luck with getting that past everyone,” Kit said.

“Actually, I don’t even think we have rules for that,” Harry said, laughing. “No one’s ever tried.”

“Sadly, I didn’t get the ability to turn my hair purple from dad, but I’m _also_ not a werewolf, so there’s that,” Remy said. “Not that being a werewolf is a bad thing. Granddad was very nice, supposedly. But, er, you know. I’d rather not.”

“Plus then I couldn’t be a ferret,” Pascha said, drowsily, from where he was draped around her neck. “I’d have to be like Lethe.”

“Oh, thanks ever so,” Lethe said. “Kit, you’re hogging all the children.”

“Leona, come sit so Lethe can sit on you,” Kit said. “I don’t want to move, I’m warm.”

“Er, I can’t get any smaller,” Rhys said. “Where do I go?”

“On top of someone?” Kit said. “Draco or Harry will do.”

“It’s almost as if there isn’t plenty of room to expand the sectional,” Draco said, dryly. “You lot, make room.”

“Here, I can move,” Aly said, shoving hard at Harry. “Dibs on Remy and Pascha, I’m already being squashed by one large cat.”

“I’m very large,” Kit agreed. “I suppose I could crush all three of you.”

“Um, sure,” Remy said, sliding in next to Aly and leaving a careful space between herself and Sirius, at least until Alcyone leaned to pet Thaxia and shoved her over. “You all right with mum and Tierney?”

“Quite happy,” Thaxia said, looking amused.

“Alcyone, that was the least subtle thing in the world,” Leona said, flopping next to Harry with a sigh. 

“Actually, I was getting away with it until you pointed it out,” Alcyone said, laughing. “Kit, don’t crush Sorcha in there.”

“Oh, fine,” he said, resting his head on Remy’s shoulder. “I heard you got flowers.”

“I did,” she said, cheeks going red again. “ _And_ you lot are meddling people who meddle, so I’m not talking about it any further until I can talk to Sirius first, because he gave them to me, so there.”

“It’s all right, they’ve probably all just got listening charms up anyway,” Sirius said, with a sigh.

“Like I can’t clear those,” Remy said.

“Well, _yeah_ ,” Sirius said. “I know that part. But –“

“I love all of you, but my family is just me and mum and dad and I’m weird and _like_ privacy, so back off, Kit,” Remy said. “And Leona. And Alcyone.”

“Well done, Andromeda,” Pansy said, dryly. “Stand up to my terrible, meddling children.”

“You know, I _do_ know who they got it from,” Remy said, looking amused.

“Touché,” Pansy said. “Ten points to Gryffindor for sassing the Headmistress. If Kitten and Sirius stay the night, you may too. In Leo –“

“Already dealt with,” Harry said, taking a biscuit.

“We can just camp out down here,” Alcyone said. “I’ll stay as well.”

“Really?” Sirius said, looking a bit surprised. “You never want to stay.”

“Well, I do, so shut it before I change my mind about _three Gryffindors_ ,” Alcyone said.

“Friends for now, talk later?” Remy offered to Sirius, who was still sort of pink.

“Yeah,” he said. “Sounds all right to me. Aly, what’s _in_ this stuff?”

Aly snorted. “Firewhiskey, and you had like half my mug, so don’t go acting like you’re drunk or something,” she said. “Not on three whole plates of dinner, anyway.”

“No, just… warm,” he said, finally.

“It’s probably because –“ Leona started.

“Kit’s on top of him being a furnace?” Pansy interrupted. “Draco, this end is getting awfully crowded, love.”

“That is the _entire point_ of family daemon pile,” Harry said, laughing. “Nobody can feel any better if they’re far away from everyone else.”

“Yes, well, Rhys grew,” Draco said, laughing, and did the spell to make the sectional longer. “And now there’s room for me _and_ him and for Sirius and Remy to cuddle.”

“I don’t care if it might get me bad marks in potions, I will hex you,” Remy threatened. “Mum says I’m allowed if any of you get terrible.”

Pansy snorted. “You do realize that threatening his fathers is _more_ likely to make us want you around, don’t you?” she said, reaching over to tug on Remy’s braid.

“Sirius, I think your parents might be defective,” Remy said, laughing.

“I know, I’ve been suffering for years, I’m so glad someone else has finally noticed,” Sirius said, dryly.

“Hey now,” Draco said. “Remy’s had to suffer too.”

“True, I suppose I’m used to it,” Remy said, then pointedly settled in against Sirius’ side.

“Er, hi,” Sirius said. “You don’t have to –“

“Oh, shut it,” Remy said.

“I changed my mind, I think I like this,” Pansy said, thoughtfully.

“Told you,” Leona said, smugly.

“Told you first,” Alcyone said.

“Um, hello, please quit being terrible,” Sirius said, looking red. “Gang up on da or something, he’s probably missed it.”

“I have,” Harry agreed, reaching to wrap an arm around Leona, squeezing Draco’s shoulder. “But I suppose I’m all right with being defective if it means I get to hang around with you lot. Gang away.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alcyone said. “I guess I’ll take defective too.”

“Defective is highly underrated,” Thaxia said, firmly. “We couldn’t have family daemon pile if we weren’t defective, and then where would we be?”

“Stressed,” Pansy said.

“In the greenhouse,” Sirius supplied.

“Stuck with blue hair forever,” Aly agreed.

“So, basically, awful,” Draco concluded. “Anyone want to play Magical?”

“Me!” said Leona.

“Definitely,” said Pansy, with a smile.

“Defectively,” Harry corrected, laughing. “But yes. Magical it is.”


End file.
